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What Is DNSSEC and Why Is It Important for Businesses?

  • By Gcore
  • February 9, 2024
  • 7 min read
What Is DNSSEC and Why Is It Important for Businesses?

DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) is an extra layer of security for the DNS (Domain Name System) that ensures DNS requests aren’t spoofed. It provides cryptographic authentication to DNS data, which prevents users from being redirected to harmful web resources. This article explains why DNSSEC matters, what would happen without it, how it works, and how you can take advantage of it with Gcore to bolster your cybersecurity posture.

What Is DNSSEC?

DNSSEC is an extension to DNS protocols that adds a layer of security to the DNS (Domain Name System) lookup and exchange processes to protect against attacks such as DNS spoofing, man-in-the-middle, data modification, or cache poisoning, which involve an attacker redirecting queries to a different domain. DNSSEC introduces digital signatures to the DNS data to authenticate the origin of the data and verify its integrity while in transit.

Even though DNS has been at the heart of the internet for decades, it took two decades for DNSSEC to be introduced by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) two decades later than DNS itself. It started to be applied on a broad scale in the mid-2000s but still lacks universal uptake.

Why Was DNSSEC Invented?

DNS was designed for the smaller networks of the early 1980s, so it lacks a built-in means of security and, when used as-is, is vulnerable to serious flaws. DNSSEC was introduced to address a specific DNS security flaw—its weak authentication system—reinforcing it with digital signatures based on public key cryptography. There exist other DNS security mechanisms to address different specific DNS issues, detailed in our dedicated DNS security article.

Regardless of the scale and nature of your web business, without addressing the vulnerabilities in the original DNS implementation, you remain vulnerable to attacks. Implementing DNSSEC on your DNS server adds a reliable layer of security, verifying that all received DNS data originates from legitimate sources. This significantly reduces the vulnerability of businesses to cyberattacks and also helps to maintain their reputation as reliable partners and service providers.

Who Needs DNSSEC?

DNSSEC is important for any organization or individual that wants to ensure the security and integrity of their DNS data. This includes:

  1. Internet service providers (ISPs) who want to ensure their customers are directed to the correct websites and not malicious ones.
  2. Businesses with an online presence that want to protect their websites from being hijacked by hackers.
  3. Government agencies and other organizations that handle sensitive information and want to prevent data leaks and cyberattacks.
  4. Internet users who want to ensure that the websites they visit are genuine and haven’t been tampered with. (Individual users browsing the internet don’t have direct control over DNSSEC, but instead rely on the ISPs, domain owners, and DNS operators to implement and manage DNSSEC.)

DNSSEC is important for anyone interested in maintaining the trustworthiness and security of internet communications. Everyone—from government agencies and famous enterprises to family businesses and individuals—can contribute to the internet’s security by making choices that support the implementation of DNSSEC.

What Security Breaches Can Happen Without DNSSEC?

Without DNSSEC, serious cybersecurity breaches can occur. The two most common ways hackers exploit DNS security problems are as follows:

1. Spoofing. Attackers can intercept communications between a recursive resolver and an authoritative server, sending fake DNS data to the resolver while spoofing the IP address of the source packet. This redirects users to a potentially harmful web resource.

For example, users might be led to a page that pretends to be a bank website, which could then capture the user’s bank access credentials, or steal passwords to social media accounts. The potential for harm in such attacks is virtually endless.

Figure 1: How spoofing can happen without DNSSEC

2. Cache poisoning. Dan Kaminsky’s bug refers to a significant security vulnerability related to DNS caching. DNS uses recursive resolvers (essentially, servers) to store responses from authoritative servers in their cache, speeding up responses when the same request is made again. However, the downside is that these servers might end up caching forged or false responses.

This vulnerability can result in web cache poisoning. When multiple users request the same DNS data, they might all get served with the fraudulent information that was cached. This incorrect information could remain in the cache for the duration of the TTL (time to live) of the forged DNS data.

Modern precautions like request port randomization and source address rotation make this type of attack harder to carry out, but it’s still possible without DNSSEC. DNSSEC verifies the authenticity of the data’s source, ensuring that the information received is indeed from the claimed source, mitigating this vulnerability.

These examples only scratch the surface of the potential dangers web service owners face due to DNS vulnerabilities when they’re not using DNSSEC, especially in environments lacking other add-on layers of security technologies like HTTPS and IPsec.

Interestingly, these breaches are exploited not only by hackers but also by officials in some countries. For example, cache poisoning is a method used in the implementation of China’s “Great Firewall.”

How Does DNSSEC Work?

DNSSEC works by solving the two fundamental problems of DNS mentioned in the previous section.

  1. It authenticates the origin of the DNS data, ensuring that data is received from a legitimate source.
  2. It ensures data integrity by verifying that the data has not been modified in transit.

At a higher level, the DNSSEC specifications can be split into three processes that together achieve these two important protections: data authentication, signature authentication, and authenticated denial of existence.

Figure 2: A schematic overview of DNSSEC

1. Authentication of DNS Data

The owner of a DNS zone generates a public and private key pair. The private key signs the DNS data, while the public key is openly published. Recursive resolvers retrieve the public key along with the DNS data, using it to verify that the data was signed by the corresponding private key. The process is similar to how HTTPS works, with the difference that the private key is used only to sign data, not to encrypt it.

Figure 3: How keys secure DNS data

This scheme solves two critical problems: data authentication and integrity checking. If the signature verification is successful, the data is considered legitimate and forwarded to the user. Otherwise, the data is discarded, and the resolver responds with an error code, stopping the potential attack.

2. Authentication of Signature

After the authenticity of the digital signature is confirmed, how can you be sure that the public key used for verification is also genuine and wasn’t falsified as a result of a man-in-the-middle attack?

DNS zones are nested within each other hierarchically. The hash of the public key (DS) of one DNS zone is signed by the private key of its parent zone, and served from the parent zone. For instance, gcore.com’s hash of public key is signed by the com zone’s private key. This creates a “chain of trust”—a  sequence of cryptographic keys each signed by another key. The public key of each DNS zone is authenticated by its respective parent zone’s key. The root zone, signed since July 2010, forms the first link in this chain and is widely trusted.

Figure 4: How the authenticity of digital signature is confirmed

3. Authenticated Denial of Existence

If someone requests a non-existent domain address, the response can also be falsified in order to lead the user into opening an infected web resource. DNSSEC this threat with a technology called “Hashed Authenticated Denial of Existence.”

DNSSEC adds a record to DNS data called NSEC, which stores all existing domain names in the zone in lexicographical (alphabetical) order. When a DNS resolver queries a DNSSEC-protected DNS server for a record that doesn’t exist, the server responds with an NSEC3 record. This record essentially says “There’s no record by the name you asked for, and here’s a cryptographic proof to show that I’m not lying.” The end user will be shown an error message, and the falsified response won’t work.

DNSSEC Downsides

While DNSSEC significantly improves the safety of DNS-related network components, it’s not a complete solution: some security problems remain beyond its scope. While DNSSEC presents certain downsides—lack of protection on the last mile and confidentiality, and performance demands, which increase maintenance costs—its implementation is a valuable investment. The enhanced network security it offers, despite the associated complexities, is crucial in protecting your business against cyber attacks.

Last Mile Problem

One important aspect of DNSSEC implementation is that it resides on resolvers and is not able to verify data integrity from the resolver to the end user; the so-called “last mile.” Consequently, DNSSEC doesn’t protect the user if, for example, hackers break into their home network router and alter its DNS cache.

Figure 5: Attackers can still manipulate DNS data since DNSSEC isn’t a comprehensive approach

Lack of Confidentiality

This is not strictly a flaw, but DNSSEC doesn’t ensure user privacy. While it digitally signs and verifies DNS data, it does not encrypt it. This means a man-in-the-middle could still access a user’s DNS records. Other security protocols, like DNS-over-TLS and DNS-over-HTTPS, were designed to address DNS privacy concerns.

Figure 6: DNSSEC digitally signs and verifies DNS data, but it doesn’t encrypt it.

Performance Considerations

DNSSEC requires careful implementation with due consideration given to performance. The security mechanism consumes additional resources, and, unless properly managed, can lead to increased latency and decreased throughput.

The three primary ways DNSSEC can impact performance are:

  • Computational load: The implementation of DNSSEC involves key generation, data signing, and signature validation, all of which demand significant computational resources due to the intensive nature of cryptographic operations.
  • Storage requirements: Compared to the DNS cache without DNSSEC, the system with DNSSEC enabled requires additional data storage because signed DNS data occupies more cache space, and public keys also require caching.
  • Network traffic: DNSSEC increases network traffic because servers need to exchange cryptographic keys.

Together, these three factors impose additional hardware costs and increased maintenance demands.

How to Use DNSSEC with Gcore

Gcore’s DNS service alleviates the administrative burden of operating your own DNS server and provides essential security measures to counter DNS security vulnerabilities. It supports DNSSEC and also ensures that all recursive resolvers involved in domain resolution use DNSSEC. This comprehensive approach addresses every aspect of DNS security.

Don’t take Gcore’s approach for granted. For DNSSEC to work effectively, it must be implemented across all levels of DNS. While authoritative name servers now support DNSSEC, its overall adoption remains slow, and not all third-party DNS servers are compatible. Increased hardware requirements and maintenance costs can make managing a DNS server challenging. Choosing a provider with a thorough approach is essential for effective DNS security.

Conclusion

DNS is at the heart of the internet, which today means it’s a target for malicious cyberattacks that have the potential to cause serious financial and reputational damage. While it doesn’t guarantee complete DNS security, DNSSEC is one crucial element in securing the internet. While it’s widely recognized that secure networks depend on secure DNS, the slow adoption of DNSSEC suggests we’re still far from a fully secure internet.

Gcore implements DNSSEC at all DNS levels for comprehensive protection. Protect yourself from malicious actors who seek to redirect users to harmful sites and compromise or falsify your data with Gcore DNS. We offer a free-forever plan as well as advanced options, all based on our network of 160+ Anycast servers, strategically located on six continents for blazing-fast performance no matter where you’re located.

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In fact, around 98% of organizations report that just one hour of downtime costs over $100,000. A CDN ensures that your website remains available, fast, and reliable by leveraging essential features such as: Load balancing: This process dynamically distributes traffic across multiple servers to optimize performance and prevent overload.Intelligent failover: Automatically redirects traffic if a server goes offline, ensuring continuity with minimal disruption.Anycast routing: Directs users to the closest or most efficient server, further reducing latency and enhancing response times.Security FeaturesAs cyber threats continue to grow in sophistication and frequency, securing your website or application is more critical than ever. According to recent statistics from Cobalt’s 2024 Cybersecurity Report, weekly attacks worldwide increased by 8% in 2023, while attackers used more sophisticated strategies to exploit vulnerabilities. Strong security measures that not only safeguard your website but also guarantee optimal performance are necessary in light of these evolving threats. CDN security features not only improve website performance but also defend against a wide range of attacks by distributing traffic across multiple servers, which mitigates DDoS attacks and filters out malicious traffic before it reaches your website. These features, from DDoS protection to safeguarding APIs, help maintain uptime, protect sensitive data, and guarantee a seamless user experience. Most modern solutions like Gcore CDN integrate robust security measures into content delivery, such as:SSL/TLS encryption facilitates secure data transmission by encrypting traffic, protecting sensitive information from being intercepted.L3/L4 DDoS protection blocks large-scale cyberattacks designed to flood your network and disrupt services.L7 DDoS protection guards your website from more complex attacks targeting how the website functions, helping it continue to operate smoothly.Web application firewall (WAF) acts as a shield, blocking harmful traffic such as hacking attempts or malicious scripts before they can affect your site.API security protects the communication between your application and other software, preventing unauthorized access or data theft.Bot protection identifies harmful automated traffic (bots), preventing activities like data scraping or login attempts with stolen credentials while allowing useful bots (like search engine crawlers) to function normally. Elevate Your Online Experience With a CDNA CDN is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity for businesses that want to deliver fast, reliable, and secure online experiences. Whether your goal is to optimize performance, manage high traffic, or protect your site from attacks, a well-configured CDN makes all the difference.Ready to enhance your website’s performance? Our futureproof CDN runs on a global network of over 180 points of presence, so your customers get outstanding performance no matter where in the world they’re located. Get in touch with our team today to learn how our CDN can benefit your business.Discover Gcore CDN

How to Migrate Your Video Files to Gcore Video Streaming

Migrating large volumes of video files from different platforms can be daunting and time-consuming, often discouraging companies from moving to a superior provider. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We’ve created this three-step guide to help you efficiently migrate your video files to Gcore from other popular streaming platforms.Step 1: Get Links to Your VideosFirst, obtain links to your videos and download them. Look for your provider in the list below, or refer to the general SFTP/S3 storage section if applicable. After completing the steps for your provider, go straight to step 2.Google DriveShare the file: Open Google Drive and locate the MP4 file you want to download. Right-click on the file and select “Share.”Get the shareable link: In the sharing settings, click “Get link.” Ensure the link-sharing option is turned on.Set sharing permissions: Adjust the sharing permissions so “Anyone with the link” can view or download the file. Copy the generated link.Amazon S3Edit S3 block public access settings: Go to the S3 management console, select the bucket containing your MP4 file, and edit the Block Public Access settings if necessary.Add a bucket policy: Implement a bucket policy that grants public read access to your files.Get the list of objects: Navigate to the Objects tab, find your MP4 file, and click on the file to obtain the Object URL, which will be your download link.VimeoAccess the video: Log in to your Vimeo account and go to the video you wish to download.Select options: Click on the “Settings” button (gear icon) below the video player.Get video file link: In the settings menu, go to the “Video File” tab, where you can find the download link for your MP4 file.MUXEnable master access: Log in to your MUX account, navigate to the video asset, and enable master access if it’s not already enabled.Retrieve URL to master: Once master access is enabled, the URL to the master file will be available in the video asset details. Copy this URL for downloading the file.DropboxCreate a shareable link: Log in to your Dropbox account and locate the MP4 file you want to share. Click on the “Share” button next to the file.Set access permissions: In the sharing settings, create a link and set the permissions to “Anyone with the link.” Copy the generated link to download the file.General SFTP or S3 StorageAccess storage: Log in to your SFTP or S3 storage service control panel.Manage buckets/directories: Navigate to the appropriate bucket or directory containing your MP4 files.Retrieve download links: Generate HTTP/S links for the files you want to download. You can then use these links to download the files directly.Step 2: Check Availability to DownloadEnsure that your video files are available and ready for download, preventing any interruptions or issues during the migration process.Open HTTP/S link in a browser: Copy the HTTP/S link for the MP4 file and paste it into your browser’s address bar. Press Enter to navigate to the link.Check the video plays correctly in the browser: Verify that the video starts playing once the link is opened. This step ensures that the file is accessible and the link is functioning properly.Right-click to download: While the video is playing, right-click on the video player. Select “Save video as…” from the context menu. Choose a destination on your local disk to save the MP4 file.Step 3: Upload to Gcore Video StreamingNo matter which provider you’re migrating from, you need to upload your videos to Gcore Video Streaming storage. There are three primary methods to upload videos to Gcore storage:Copy from external storage: If your videos are available via public HTTPS URLs, you can directly copy the video files from external storage to Gcore. This method efficiently transfers files without downloading them to your local device first.Upload from a local device: Videos can be uploaded from your local host, backend, browser, or mobile app using the TUS resumable upload protocol. This method is resilient to interruptions, ensuring a smooth upload process by resuming from the point of failure.Batch upload: This method will soon be available to migrate extensive collections of videos, allowing you to transfer vast numbers of video files efficiently.The simplest migration option is to obtain video URLs and copy them to Gcore Video Hosting, eliminating the need to download and reupload videos.Example API Request to Copy Video from External StorageTo copy a video from another server, specify the origin_url attribute in the POST API request. The original video will be downloaded for video hosting on our server. Here is an example of the API request to set a task for copying a video from external storage:curl -L 'https://api.gcore.com/streaming/videos/' \-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \-H 'Authorization: APIKey 1234$0d16599c' \-d '{ "video": { "name": "Gcore Demo", "description": "Video copied from an external S3 Storage", "origin_url": "https://s-ed1.cloud.gcore.lu/demo-video/gcore.mp4" } }Refer to the complete documentation for detailed steps and examples of API requests. The original file must be in MP4 format or one of the following formats: 3g2, 3gp, asf, avi, dif, dv, flv, f4v, m4v, mov, mp4, mpeg, mpg, mts, m2t, m2ts, qt, wmv, vob, mkv, ogv, webm, vob, ogg, mxf, quicktime, x-ms-wmv, mpeg-tts, vnd.dlna.mpeg-tts. Streaming formats like HLS (.m3u8/.ts) and DASH (.mpd/.m4v) are intended for final video distribution and cannot be used as original file formats. Here are examples of good and bad links:Good link: https://demo-files.gvideo.io/gcore.mp4Bad link (chunked HLS format): https://demo-files.gvideo.io/hls/master.m3u8Note: Currently, only one video can be uploaded per request, so transferring your library in batches will require automation.Migrate to Gcore Video Streaming TodayGcore Video Streaming makes video migration easy with support for multiple sources and automatic transcoding. Whether you’re moving files from cloud storage, hosting platforms, or API-based services, Gcore streamlines video administration. Store, process, and distribute videos in various formats, complete with features like subtitles and timeline previews.With seamless migration and automatic transcoding, Gcore ensures your videos are optimized and ready for distribution, saving you time and effort. Simplify your video management and ensure your content is always accessible and in the best format for your audience with Gcore’s robust video streaming solutions.

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